Index



(NO Model.)

2 Sheets-Sheet 2q G. J. WATTS 8v F. J. WRAGG.'

INDEX No. 576,295. Ptented Peb. 2, 1897.

llNrTEn STATES PATENT GEEICE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 576,295, dated February2, 1897. Application filed March 1.8, 1896. Serial No. 583,745. (Nomodel.)

To all whom t Duty concern.:

Be it known that we, CHARLES JOSEPH WATTS and FRANK JVRAG-G, citizens ofthe United States, residing at Springfield, in the county of Clark andState of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inIndexes, of which the following is a specification, reference being hadtherein to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in indexesfor blank books, as account-books, record-books, or books in which arekept lists of names, things, or facts, and the general object is tofacilitate and lessen the labor of finding any name, fact, or otherinformation recorded in any of such books in alphabetical order underthe first alphabetical letter in the surname in the case of a person orthe first letter in the case of a fact or other information. y

To this end the invention consists, essentially, of the letters of thealphabet in regular order from A to Z, inclusive, placed one group at,on, or near the back or cover of the book and the other group at, on, ornear the front or cover of the book, so that when the book is open bothgroups appear to the eye, and a suitable number of book pages or leavesarranged between such alphabetical groups, and each page having one ormore marginal tabs for each letter of said groups, the tabs beinglettered on both of their respective sides, and the obverse side of eachpreceding tab being lettered correspondingly with the reverse side ofthe succeeding tab, so that no matter at what page the book is open anindex appears at each side or marginal edge of the book, constitutingwhat we term a double index, or a right and left hand index combined.This right and left hand index combination was made to effect a rightand left hand reversible subdivided index and is the essentialcharacteristic of the invention, and we construct it in the manner j uststated, in which it will be seen that the alphabetical groups face eachother, while the tabs are lettered on both their obverse and reversesides, the letters on their obverse sides working in conjunction withthe right-hand alphabetical group and the letters on their reverse sidesworking in conjunction with the left-hand alphabetical group, and theobverse side of the preceding tabs working in conjunction with thereverse side of the succeeding tabs. There are many advantages inpractice derived from this double or right and left hand index, as wehave ascertained, and we will herein mention one of them. It is this: Itis a common experience that in searching for names in indexes one often,while engaged with a name occurring well down in the alphabet, needs torefer back to one or more names occurring earlier in the alphabet. Inall single or merely right-hand or left-hand indexes it is necessaryunder such condition to turn the left-hand pages back to the right orleft and then run the eye along the tabs or other form of index to findthe name or names occurring in the earlier part ofthe alphabet whilestill trying to keep the place farther down in the alphabet. This isannoying and time-consuming. of ours it is only necessary to cast theeye to the left-hand side of the book, when the name or names occurringearlier in the alphabet can be readily found without any turning of theleft-hand pages over to the right, or vice versa.

In the accompanying drawings, on which like reference letters andfigures indicate c0rresponding parts, Figure 1 is a perspective View ofan index-book embodying our invention; and Fig. 2 is a similar view ofan indexbook embodying a modied form of our inven` tion, themodification consisting in lettering the tabs somewhat differently, ashereinafter more fully pointed out.

The letter A designates the back or cover of a blank book of any typeand to be used for any purpose. Vithin this cover are placed andsecured, in any of the usual. ways, a series of leaves B,constitutingpages. These pages we have ruled into columns l, 2, 3, 4, and 5 as tothe left-hand pages and into col* umns 6, 7, 8, and 9 as to theright-hand pages. There is nothing peculiar, however, about thesecolumns, as they will vary with the different uses of the book. Overcolumns 2, 5, and 8, which are designated Name, we have placed thevowels A E I on the pages appearingin Fig. l, while on the reverse sidesof these pages the vowels 0 U Y are similarly placed.' These vowelsagree with the letters shown on the page-tabs, so that if A E I Withthis improved index are on the obverse sides of the respective tabs onthe right and left hand pages then A E I appear on the obverse side ofthe page, and if O U Y appear on the reverse sides of the tabs then O UY will appear on the reverse sides of the pages.

Within the cover A, or upon theinner face thereof, or on a specialfiy-leaf C, we place alphabetical groups lO, each consisting of theletters A to Z, inclusive, in regular alphabetical order. These lettersstand for the initial. in the surname of individuals or for the firstletter in other names, as the names of things, or the first letter inthe word designating the factrecorded. It will be seen, no matter atwhat place the book is opened, these alphabetical groups appear facingthe eye, one to the right and the other to the left. This is the firstelement that enters into the arrangement or construction by which ourindex is a double index or a right and a left hand index.

Referring again to the sheets B, constituting pages of the book, it willbe seen that each sheet has a tab ll, preferably made of leather andunited to the pages in any convenient way, say by means of paste or someadhesive material. The peculiarity of these tabs is that they arelettered on both sides, or, as we term it, on the obverse and thereverse sides, regarding the obverse side as that which appears to theeye wherever the book is open and regarding the reverse side as thatwhich does not appear to the eye wherever the book is opened. Anotherpeculiarity of these tabs is that the lettering on the obverse side ofany preceding tab is the same as the lettering on the reverse side ofthe next suoceeding tab. For instance, the obverse side of the firstleft-hand tag in Fig. l, namely a e i, is the same as the reverse sideof the second left-hand tag in the first figure; and the obverse side,namely o u y, of the second left-hand tab is the same as the reverseside of the third left-hand tab, or, if the illustra-tion be given atthe right-hand side of the gure the obverse side of the first right-handtab, as the book is shown in said figure,

namely a c i, is the same as the reverse side of the second right-handtab. Thus it results that one side of any two tabs opposite any one ofthe letters of the alphabetical group do present a e i o u y whether thepage is turned to the left or the right, so that taking the letter M inFig. l it will be seen that a e i appear on the left-hand side and o uyappear under them, if page B(shown in dotted lines) were carried overto the left, but if allowed to remain to the right then a e i o u y arestill shown opposite M. These letters on the tabs designate the secondletter in surnames of individuals or the like, and the second letter int-he names of things or the second letters in words designating thefact. This, however, is what is known generally as the vowelarrangement, and is not a distinguishing feature of our invention, be-

cause it will be seen, by referring to Fig. 2, that the vowelarrangement is not preserved, though the primary feature of letteringboth sides of the tabs is preserved, as well as the feature of makingthe obverse side of a preceding tab agree with the reverse side of thenext tab, which latter is a feature of our invention. Referring,therefore, to Fig. 2, it will be seen that the same arrangement ofalphabetical letters or groups lO is preserved and the same arrangementof tabs is also preserved, each tab being lettered from both sides, theonly difference being that in Fig. 2 the vowel system is dropped and thelettering on the tabs is changed to a conventional division of thealphabet, which conventional arrangement will differ' with the differentuses for which the index may be used. Thus in the modified form shown inFig 2 the first left-hand tab, as shown, is lettered A to Z, inclusive,which means that all names or words beginning with A and having a secondletter anywhere from A to 2, inclusive, will be placed on the pagebearing that tab so lettered A to Z5 or, taking the second example onthe left-hand page, the letter 13, wherein three tabs, each attached toa page, are placed opposite said letter, in which case a greater numberof pages are devoted to B and the range of letters for the second letterin the name or word runs from A to Y, inclusive. In both forms, however,the essential feature of the two alphabetical groups, one at each sideof the book, arranged to face the eye no matter where the book isopened, together with the tabs properly lettered on both sides, so thatevery tab can be read with each of the alphabetical groups, no mattei'which side of the tab is up or no matter whether the page is turned tothe right or the left, is preserved. This is what constitutes our doubleor right and left hand index, which we regard as a great advance overwhat has preceded our invention in the way of indexes.

It will also be seen in Fig. 2 that the columns marked Surname haveletters, as Il E or H J or II Z or Il L, agreeing with the letter of thealphabetical group and the lettering of the tabs corresponding to suchletter; but this is not a necessary part of our invention.

In using the term alphabetical group we would have it understood that weinclude in such group the conventional designation Mc and any equivalentconventionality, such as Mac Having thus fully described our invention,what we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, ism Y l.In an index-book, a double index con sisting of a plurality ofalphabetical groups arranged so as to face the eye no matter where thebook is opened, a suitable number of leaves ruled to constitute pages,and tabs for each page lettered on their obverse and IOO IIO

reverse sides, there being one or more tabs for each letter of eitheralphabetical group,

f the obverse side of each preceding tab beingv lettered correspondinglyWith the reverse side of the succeeding tab.

2. In an index-book, a double index consisting of two alphabeticalgroups each placed at or near the inside oi the back or cover of thebook and composed of letters A to Z, inclusive, and leaves ruled to formsheets each having a tab lettered on both sides, there being one or moretabs for each letter of either

